A/N: I sadly own nothing affiliated with the Doctor Who and Torchwood franchise. I do however own a pretty awesome computer, and that has proven to be almost as good.Not myself tonight
Jenny had heard the car from almost a mile away. She had great hearing, better than most, probably thanks to her father, and it was coming in hand now. She made sure her old blaster (her favourite she had "procured" from an archaeologist named River on Baghar, a desert planet) was out of sight but in reach and turned when she heard a car door slam.
"Excuse me" a dark haired woman called. "Can I just have a moment of your time?" She held up a badge, but Jenny didn't pay attention to it. She didn't know the different jurisdictional officers of this planet and figured the woman could have waved a badge that claimed her to be a cook and she wouldn't have been able to tell the difference. "What do you need" Jenny called back.
"I was just wondering if perhaps you've heard any weird and loud noises the last hour or so?"
"Why?"
"The RAF is doing some training around here, we're just checking to make sure the inhabitants of this area are not bothered too much."
Jenny had no idea what RAF was, but it was not hard for her to see through the woman's lie. And they came from the direction of her wrecked ship. "It's not" she said and smiled.
"What are you doing out here?"
"Just walking, enjoying the nice weather." Jenny moved her hand a little, ready to whip out her blaster.
"It's about to rain" Gwen said and moved her hand over her gun. She noticed the woman move her hand a little as well and deduced that she was caring some sort of weapon as well.
Gwen pulled out her gun the same second as Jenny pointed the blaster at her. "Who are you?"
"None of your business" Jenny yelled back, both still aiming at each other.
"Put the gun away" a male voice commanded and Jenny shifted her attention to a baby-faced man and another woman, both who were obviously companions of the dark haired woman currently pointing a gun at her.
"You're holding a stick" Jenny said, not moving her blaster.
Gwen turned her focus to Ianto, who has holding a bat and Tosh who was holding her computer. "A bat?"
"I forgot my gun at the hub" Ianto said in an apologetic voice.
"Me too. Sorry" Tosh said.
"You're not from Raxacoricofallapatorius, are you" Gwen asked.
"No! Ew" Jenny said, still not removing her blaster. She assessed the situation, the dark haired woman with the gun looked pretty buff for a woman, but the other two looked like they would go down without a fight. She made a quick decision and kicked the gun out of the woman's hand, hitting her hard in the face before she had a chance to recover from the kick. "Back off" she yelled to them and they all three took a step back. "So you have a…" She searched for the right word. "A vehicle?"
"Yeah" Tosh answered.
"You" she pointed the blaster at Tosh. "Show me!" Jenny wasn't sure she knew how to manoeuvre such a vehicle, but the woman looked like she could easily be "persuaded" to do it for her. The woman started to walk and Jenny followed, picking up Gwen's gun on the way. as they reached the car, Jenny motioned for the woman to get in. "What's the nearest civilisation?"
"Oh, um… Cardiff. It's a city."
"Good, take me there" Jenny said, still pointing her blaster at her.
"How embarrassing" Ianto said, as he and Gwen started to walk towards Cardiff.
"You said that like three times already" Gwen said.
"This is all your fault, you do know that, right?"
"How the bloody hell is this my fault" Gwen asked in an outraged tone.
"Well for one you are apparently completely unable to follow orders, just like Rose! And second, it was your bloody idea to follow that bloody alien out here in the middle of bloody nowhere! And I'm wearing new shoes!"
"If anyone's to fault it should be Jack! He's the one who ordered me out here because he didn't want to talk."
"What do you have to talk to him about anyway" Ianto spat.
"I left Rhys!"
Ianto snorted. "Don't you think it was the other way around?"
"That's none of your business! And it doesn't even matter now…"
"Right, because you're with Jack" Ianto mocked.
"Are you jealous?"
"Gwen, he's Jack. He is not with you or me, for that matter. He is not with anyone, he's Jack!"
Gwen stopped walking. "What do you mean?"
"When are you going to wake up? He doesn't care for either of us! Do you even have eyes? If he's not too busy daydreaming about that Doctor persona, he spends all his free time with Rose!"
"No he doesn't. He's not interested in Rose like that!"
"It's Jack, he's interested in everything with a zip code" Ianto almost yelled. "You and me are just a way to spend time. Don't fool yourself. I was with him yesterday! It didn't mean anything, just like it didn't mean anything with you."
"You don't know that!"
Ianto almost laughed at her. "Just wait and see. You're no more special than all the others before you. Including me!"
The rest of the trip back to Cardiff was spent in utter silence.
"One more time. Left hand up, use it to block and hit with your right" Owen instructed.
Rose sighed for perhaps the thousandth time. "I don't understand why I need this."
"Because screaming and running away doesn't scare the big, mean aliens" Owen answered.
"It used to work just fine.""Yeah well it's my experience that running away only means that you get shot in the back rather than in the chest. The outcome is usually the same."
Rose sighed again and put both her hands up. "I feel stupid!"
"I don't care if you feel like Mary Poppins, you just have to be able to defend yourself. And seeing as we pretty much ruled out guns before, this is the only way, unless you intend to sing a song and chase the bad guys away."
"You know, I know someone who did that once."
"And did it work" Owen asked.
"Well, he kinda died…"
"Which brings us back to this. Left hand up, right hand ready to hit" Owen repeated and finally Rose did as he asked.
"How's it going" Jack asked as he walked into the training room.
"Well we have established that Rose should not be allowed anywhere near a gun" Owen said in a tired voice. He really needed some sleep soon.
"Meaning?"
"Meaning I couldn't even hit the target" Rose said in an embarrassed voice.
"Oh. Well, how's the self defence going?"
"She could definitely talk her enemy to death. I'm not so sure about the beating, though" Owen replied. "Jack, I really need some sleep now, I'm exhausted: can we continue this some other time?"
"Yeah, sure Owen" Jack said and Owen promptly left the room.
"Any word from Gwen and the others" Rose asked.
"No nothing, which is weird. They should have contacted me by now. Ianto and Tosh both left their guns here, I checked."
"I'm sure they'll call soon" Rose said and sat down. "Self defence is really hard."
Jack smiled. "Yeah, but it's good for you.""Jack Harkness, are you calling me fat?"
"That's captain Jack Harkness, little miss, and no I'm not. You need to learn this Rose, including how to handle a gun. You can't rely on any of us saving you. Or the Doctor, for that matter."
"I don't, it's just…. I really don't like guns Jack. And Mickey tried to teach me a little self defence when I was younger because Jimmy… Well, he thought it would be a good idea, but I was useless at it."
"Give it a little time. We'll all help you out." Rose nodded, then suddenly rose from her position, one hand over her mouth. "Are you alright" Jack called, as she fled into the adjoining toilet. Loud noises of someone retching and then a toilet being flushed, answered him.
"Owen? Jack? Rose? Anyone" Tosh called out as she entered the hub. "Hello?"
"Would you keep it down" Owen's sour voice greeted her from the old couch.
"Owen, where's Jack?"
"I don't know. Now shut up so I can go back to sleep!"
"Owen, this is serious! I was just kidnapped!"
"What?"
"By some crazy blonde alien! She forced me to drive her to Cardiff, made me stop at a parking lot, torched the jeep and then she disappeared!"
Owen stood up and looked her over. "Are you hurt?" He checked her eyes and touched her forehead, but Tosh batted him away.
"Obviously she didn't infect me with fever or an eye infection, Owen! Where's Jack? I have to tell him and then we have to find Gwen and Ianto."
"No need, we're here" Gwen panted as she collapsed next to the front office door. "Oh my god that was a long walk!"
Ianto dropped down next to her. "I can't feel my legs anymore!"
"Aren't the two of you supposed to be super special agents or something" Owen asked.
"Yeah, who chase aliens, not walk 20 miles in heels" Gwen defended herself. "Now please find Jack so he can scold us and get it over with. I want to lie down!"
"What's going on" Jack asked. "What the hell happened to you?"
"I was kidnapped" Tosh said.
"And we were forced to walk back to the hub" Ianto complained. "My feet are killing me!"
Jack rolled his eyes. "You completely ignored my orders, right?" All three of them nodded. "Tell me what happened."
"The ship is Raxacoricofallapatorian. It's inhabitant looked human, though" Ianto said.
"So you met the alien" Jack asked.
"Yes and I believe the correct term in this case would be that Gwen had her ass handed to her!"
"Ianto, shut up" Gwen said and hit him on the shoulder. "She kicked the gun out of my hand and forced Tosh to take her back to the jeep and drive her to Cardiff."
"And Ianto and Tosh were where when this happened?"
"Oh… Well we…" Tosh suddenly looked very embarrassed. "Well, we both sort of forgot our guns here at the hub, so…"
"You've gotten sloppy and lazy! We all have and this is going to get us killed" Jack yelled. "I can't believe you could be that stupid! Why didn't you call for backup?"
"Yeah or a lift" Owen snorted.
"Well, you see…" Gwen started and looked at Ianto, who just closed his eyes and rested his head on the wall. "We may have also kinda forgotten or cellphones in the jeep. That the alien stole. And torched!"
Jack sighed. "If it wasn't because there's a rouge Time Lord running around in Cardiff and the universe may collapse on us, you would all be fired! So, so fired! For now, I'll settle on putting you on desk duty!"
"Doing what" Gwen asked.
"Check the cracks and figure out the Master! That's all you do, understood?"
"What about the alien" Tosh asked.
"I don't care about that alien right now, we have other alien-problems" Jack almost yelled. "Owen, Rose is down in the training room, throwing up. I need you to check her over, make sure she's not coming down with something." Owen nodded and left them. "Gwen, Pete have sent all the information they have about this Master guy, check it out, compare it with our own and make a profile. Tosh, rift activity, cracks and any kind of alien activity!"
"And what about me" Ianto asked.
"Go out and make some coffee, it's going to be a long day!"
"Are you alright?"
Rose looked up as Owen entered the toilet. "I feel horrible" she whispered, voice raw from throwing up.
Owen touched her forehead. "You're burning up. What happened, you were fine half an hour ago."
"I don't know. I suddenly felt like throwing up and now I'm here. I feel really weird."
"Yeah, let's get you to the lab and check you out. Can you walk?"
"I don't think my legs are cooperation right now. Sorry."
Owen helped her out of the booth and then picked her up, walking them to the lab.
"Your heart is racing" Owen said. "Have you been feeling ill these last couple of days?"
"I've thrown up a couple of times, but that's all. Can I lie down?"
Owen nodded and found a syringe. "I'll just take a blood sample."
"I really hate needles" Rose moaned and turned her head away.
"It'll only hurt a second" he promised. "Have you told Jack you've been throwing up?"
"No, it's not exactly a great topic for conversation. I probably just have the flu or something like that."
"Okay…. Have you been sexual active in the last month?"
"Is that really relevant" Rose asked. She had a feeling Owen's blood sample would be dry, seeing as all the blood in her body had just rushed to her face.
"You could have a sexually transmitted disease or be pregnant."
"Oh… Well… I don't feel pregnant" Rose muttered.
"You're probably not" Owen said. "But it distracted you long enough to not feel the needle."
"Oh right. Thanks."
"Want me to help up to main level?"
"No, I think I'll just lie here a little, in case I feel like violently throwing up again" Rose said and closed her eyes.
"Is Rose alright" Gwen asked, as Owen sat down at his desk.
"Probably got the flu or something, won't know until the tests are done" Owen answered and closed his eyes. "I am so tired."
"At least you didn't just walk a marathon" Gwen said.
"You do know you can't walk a marathon, right? It's implied that you run."
"Shut up Owen."
"Is Rose alright?"
Owen turned to look at Tosh with a tired face. "She's probably just under the weather."
"Maybe she has syphilis, your favourite vd" Tosh suggested mockingly.
"Ha ha, very funny. How's the crack coming along?"
"Bad. And Jack's really upset" Gwen answered. "We really suck at this, don't we?"
"Well, forgetting your gun at work and getting kidnapped by a blonde alien doesn't exactly scream professionalism" Owen concluded. "Maybe we just got used to dealing with Weevils?"
"I miss those" Gwen said. "How is Janet?"
"She's lovely, doing quite well" Owen said. "Any sign of the Master?"
"I don't know his signature, so it's hard to figure out his tracks. He could be sitting outside and we wouldn't know" Tosh said.
"That's very comforting, thank you, Tosh."
"The stuff Pete sent wasn't very informing either. Just info on Harry Saxon's human life, nothing that really helps. We already knew he was a smart and complete psycho" Gwen said. "I have no idea what kind of answers he expect Rose to give him."
"Maybe why she targeted him" Tosh suggested.
"But that doesn't make any sense, he's an alien and she worked for Torchwood, that explains it. Why would he need answers to that, it's obvious" Gwen said.
All three of them sighed, as Rose reached main level and joined them.
"How are you feeling" Gwen and Tosh asked at the same time.
"Bad, like something is crawling around inside me" Rose answered and dropped down at her desk.
"That sounds serious" Tosh said, subconsciously taking a step back.
"Yeah like I said, I'm running some tests. I just wanted to get in an hour of sleep while they're processing" Owen said in a defensive tone.
"It's fine, I'll be fine. I just feel weird, is all" Rose said and rested her head on the desk. It felt like someone was screaming inside her head and her skin was burning. The cool surface of the desk provided a quick relief, but Rose knew it was a temporary fix, she would soon need a lot more than that to keep herself together.
A/N: So, what's wrong with Rose? Pregnancy, nasty case of the clap, bird flu? Any guesses?
Thanks for the great response to last chapter, I was getting a little worried I was boring the hell out of all of you and no one was reading. One reviewer mentioned that the small subplots were taking over the story and I tend to agree so I'll try to balance out the story more from now on. Constructive critism is always appreciated, so thanks for that.
On a completely different note: Summer's almost over (hope you all had a blast - I was stuck at home, spending all my money on getting my car fixed) and it's my hope to be over and done with this story before I start back in school. So keep the great response comming (I'm such an addict) and I'll do my very best to keep the chapters coming. I figure there's about four or five left.
xoxo Anne